Evelyn Bush

Evelyn Bush is a sociologist whose research has centered on the interplay between religion and rationality, particularly the various forms of confrontation and collaboration between religious organizations and large-scale secular institutions. Her past research has focused on how the rules, norms and assumptions of secular political bureaucracies, particularly the United Nations and the U.S. Department of State, shape religious actors’ strategies for asserting influence in the field of human rights. Recently, her research focus has shifted to the terrain of professional sports, and the role that religious ministries play in either ameliorating or exacerbating the potentially dehumanizing effects of hyper-rationalization on athletes within the National Football League. Throughout her research, Dr. Bush has written on the measurement challenges inherent in the use of quantitative data to study religion.

B.S., Xavier
M.A., William and Mary
Ph.D., Cornell

Religion, Social Movements, Culture and Institutions

Dr. Bush spent this past year (AY 2017/2018) on sabbatical, collecting quantitative and qualitative data for a new project, which focuses on how religion shapes the lives and careers of professional athletes, particularly in the NFL. This summer, she is embarking on the second stage of this project, which entails fieldwork designed to further explore findings from the quantitative portion of the study.

Dr. Bush’s previous research has focused on religion and international institutions. Most recently, she was a core collaborator on the "Religious NGOs at the United Nations" project, which was a 3-year multi-methods study funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council and housed at the University of Kent – Canterbury. This collaborative effort culminated in a book, titled Religion, NGOs and the United Nations: Visible and Invisible Actors in Power, which was edited by the project P.I., Jeremy Carrette, and published by Bloomsbury Press (2017).

2017. “Exploring Religion through Survey Research: The Problem of Categories,” Ch. 2 in Religion, NGOs and the United Nations: Visible and Invisible Actors in Power, edited by Jeremy Carrette. London: Bloomsbury Press.

2017. “Representation, Accountability and Influence at the UN: Results from the Survey of Religious NGOs.” Ch.3 in Religion, NGOs and the United Nations: Visible and Invisible Actors in Power, edited by Jeremy Carrette. London: Bloomsbury Press.

2017. “What is a Religious NGO? Conceptual and Classificatory Challenges in Research on Transnational Religion” Ch. 8 in Faithful Measures: The Art and Science of Measuring of Religion, Roger Finke and Chris Bader, eds., New York: NYU Press.

2014. "Gender, Security and Religious Freedom in Post-Conflict Societies," in Post-Conflict Studies: An Interdisciplinary Approach, Chip Gagnon and Keith Brown, eds. Routledge Studies in Peace and Conflict Resolution. New York: Taylor and Francis.

2011. "Religious Freedom and Transnational Religion: An Economic Approach." Pp. 149-166 in Religious Actors in the Public Sphere, edited by Jeff Haynes and Anja Henning. Routledge Series on Religion and Politics. London and New York: Routledge.

2010. “Explaining religious market failure: a gendered critique of the religious economies model.” Sociological Theory 28(3):304-325.

2010. “Saintly mission or sins of commission? Review of God’s Battalions: The Case for the Crusades, by Rodney Stark." Contexts 9(3):72-73.

2008. “Discipline and resistance in diplomacy: religion and the UN Declaration of Commitment on HIV/AIDS.” Pp. 165-190 in Discipline and Punishment in Global Politics: Illusions of Control, edited by Janie Leatherman. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.

2007. “Measuring religion in global civil society.” Social Forces 85(4):1645-1665.

Introduction to Sociology

Modern American Social Movements

Religion and Social Change

Religion and Social Movements

Sociological Theory